Learn About Cognitive Training
Find out how hearing aids can protect brain power and reduce dementia risk.
How Hearing Loss Affects You
Hearing is a social sense, and hearing loss can have a fundamental impact on communicating and connecting with others. Hearing is also an emotional sense, and hearing loss can change how we enjoy social gatherings and how we perceive emotions. Did you know that better hearing can support better thinking? And make a strong contribution to your overall well-being? Then we have good news for you: the latest research have shown a positive impact of hearing aids on cognition and why it is worth taking control of your hearing and your health.1,2
Hearing loss and cognitive health strongly correlate
Recent studies provide important new insights on the relationship between hearing health and cognitive health, and the great potential of hearing intervention to slow down the decline of thinking and memory.1,2 According to one research, wearing hearing aids can slow down the loss of thinking and memory abilities by 48% over 3 years in older adults at increased risk for cognitive decline. According to another research, people in the hearing aid intervention group maintained their cognitive abilities over three years, while those without hearing intervention showed a decline in cognition over the same period.
The Effect of Hearing Aids on Cognition
Hearing aids that restore hearing abilities can help slow down the process of cognitive decline by improving access to sound and noise, allowing the brain to correlate what a person hears. The hearing aids help to hear the signal that the brain then does interpret to understand the meaning of what is being said, reducing the mental load of listening for the brain.By increasing aural input and clarity of sound, hearing aids enable an enriched cognitive experience, stimulating the brain. Improved hearing can also foster social participation, encouraging individuals to engage in conversations. In recent years research has shown that hearing aids broadly improve social interaction3 and have positive effects in terms of an increased level of social activity.4,5 Social activity in turn has been shown to be important for successful aging in general6 as well as for cognitive health in particular.7
Holistic hearing healthcare
Many people still underestimate the overall impact of hearing loss. More and more studies reveal the strong connection between a loss in hearing levels and cognitive decline. We must be proactive in addressing that hearing loss that can be as easy as an annual hearing exam. Our hearing experts can establish and monitor your baseline hearing and catch issues with personalized solutions that keep you hearing better and thinking better.
The latest hearing technology can make all the difference with key features:
- Easier hearing in many listening situations
- Tinnitus masking to minimize effects
- Universal connectivity to personal devices
- Activity tracking with smart apps
1 Lin, F. R., Pike, J. R., Albert, M. S., Arnold, M., Burgard, S., Chisolm, T., Couper, D., Deal, J. A., Goman, A. M., Glynn, N. W., Gmelin, T., Gravens-Mueller, L., Hayden, K. M., Huang, A. R., Knopman, D., Mitchell, C. M., Mosley, T., Pankow, J. S., Reed, N. S., Sanchez, V., … ACHIEVE Collaborative Research Group (2023). Hearing intervention versus health education control to reduce cognitive decline in older adults with hearing loss in the USA (ACHIEVE): a multicentre, randomised controlled trial. Lancet (London, England), 402(10404), 786–797. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(23)01406-X
2 Sarant, J. Z., Busby, P. A., Schembri, A. J., Fowler, C., & Harris, D. C. (2024). ENHANCE: a comparative prospective longitudinal study of cognitive outcomes after 3 years of hearing aid use in older adults. Frontiers in aging neuroscience, 15, 1302185. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2023.1302185
3 Paluch, R., Latzel, M., & Meis, M. (2015). A new tool for subjective assessment of hearing aid performance: Analyses of Interpersonal Communication. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research, 5(0), 453-460. https://www.proceedings.isaar.eu/index.php/isaarproc/article/view/2015-54
4 Sawyer, C. S., Armitage, C. J., Munro, K. J., Singh, G., & Dawes, P. D. (2019). Correlates of Hearing Aid Use in UK Adults: Self-Reported Hearing Difficulties, Social Participation, Living Situation, Health, and Demographics. Ear and Hearing, 40(5), 1061-1068. https://doi.org/10.1097/aud.0000000000000695
5 Holman et al., (2021). Hearing aids reduce daily-life fatigue and increase social activity: a longitudinal study. Trends in Hearing, 25, 23312165211052786.
6 Ho, M., Pullenayegum, E., & Fuller-Thomson, E. (2023). Is Social Participation Associated with Successful Aging among Older Canadians? Findings from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA). International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(12). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20126058
7 Haslam, C. (2018). The new psychology of health: unlocking the social cure (1 Edition ed.). Routledge New York.
